Chapter 9

• Destinations


  Places that people want to visit and experience; the heart and soul of a country's visitor economy
• Destinations


  • They are diverse - they don't always fit neatly into national borders or within public sector administrative boundaries
  • They may cover a single destination or a number of smaller destinations with a strong identity caused by its natural geography or landscape well-known in its own right
• Destination Management Organizations (DMOs)


  Play a key role in developing tourism locally
• Statistical Strengthening and Development of a Tourism Satellite Account (TSA)

  1. Facilitate the understanding of the full social and economic dimension of tourism in terms of demand and supply

  2. Guide tourism policy and planning

  3. Provide a useful lobbying tool to National Tourism Administrations to advocate the cause of tourism
• Stakeholders involved


  • Destination Management Organizations
  • National Tourism Administration
  • Provincial Governments
• Regular, competitive and reliable source of tourism statistics and related economic and social data (including information on employment generated by tourism)
• Capacities built among staff of NTA, National Statistical Office, Central Bank and Immigration Authorities to collect and process tourism-related statistics
• Product Development and Diversification

  1. Evaluate the scope and diversity of existing and potential tourism resources

  2. Provide guidelines for their conversion into quality tourism products based on research of current and future market trends

  3. Address the national and regional challenges of product similarity and lack of product diversity

  4. Increase tourist arrivals (including repeat visitors)

  5. Increase their length of stay

  6. Spread the economic benefits of tourism to all parts of the country
• Stakeholders involved


  • Destination Management Organizations
  • Local communities
  • National Tourism Administration
  • Private sector
  • Provincial Governments
• Potential products identified to facilitate diversification
• Marketing and Promotion Plan


  Formulate a detailed marketing and promotional plan for the sector taking into account the quality and quantity of tourism products, the diversity of domestic, regional and international source markets, image and positioning, branding, quality and distribution of promotional materials (including e-marketing) and institutional mechanisms for marketing and promotion including public-private partnership
• Strategic positioning of the country as a tourism destination and identification of tourist patterns and priority source markets and segments
• Value Chain Analysis and Local Economic Development

  1. Investigate the structure and working of the tourism value chain in a destination and the economic value generated

  2. Plan and execute actions to enhance the local economic impact of tourism

  3. Analyse the amount of income from all transactions in the tourism sector that is received by the poor

  4. Identify which particular kinds of transactions are most pro-poor or have the potential to be made more pro-poor

  5. Create an action plan outlining interventions to enhance the local economic impact from tourism in the destination
• Stakeholders involved


  • Destination Management Organizations
  • Local communities
  • National Tourism Administration
  • Provincial Governments
• Creation of a tourism value chain and strengthened capacity of local stakeholders in the tourism sector to plan and manage interventions to enhance the local economic impact from tourism in the destination
• Institutional Strengthening and Public-Private Partnership

  1. Identify and clarify the present and future roles of the public and private sector organizations in tourism development

  2. Make improvements on operations of tourism associations and tourism boards
• Stakeholders involved


  • Destination Management Organizations
  • Local communities
  • National Tourism Administration
  • Private sector
• Improved institutional framework for tourism development in the country and a public-private participatory model for decision and policy-making processes for tourism development, management and promotion
• Tourism Legislation and Regulation

  1. Formulate a legal and regulatory framework for the sustainable development and management of tourism, protection and conservation of natural and cultural resources

  2. Facilitate the involvement of private sector and local communities in tourism development activities

  3. Reflect the roles and responsibilities of all stakeholders

  4. Ensure the rights of international/local tourists

  5. Ensure the rights and obligations of participating businesses, inbound-outbound tour operators and all other concerned players in the tourism field
• A logical and well-defined legal and regulatory framework for tourism
• Tourism Physical Planning and Resort Development

  1. Provide realistic and practical guidelines for the sustainable development of high quality tourism infrastructure and superstructure

  2. Ensure improved governance and management in the entire planning and development process
• Comprehensive general and area-specific development guidelines for tourism zones with specific urban designing, land use planning and infrastructure planning
• Tourism Development Master Plans and Strategic Development Plans

  1. Formulate a long-term development framework for tourism (10-20 years) with emphasis on policy and strategy, planning, institutional strengthening, legislation and regulation, product development and diversification, marketing and promotion, tourism infrastructure and superstructure, economic impact of tourism and tourism investment, human resource development, and socio-cultural and environmental impacts of tourism

  2. Include a short term (three-year) action plan for priority actions to be undertaken to kick-start sustainable tourism development

  3. Prepare several demonstration projects for pilot areas
• Stakeholders involved


  • Destination Management Organizations
  • National Tourism Administration
  • Provincial Governments
• A Tourism Development Master Plan which provides an organized and structured framework for tourism development and promotion
• Tourism Policy


  1. Formulate a tourism policy to guide all tourism development, operations and management

  2. Meet the Government's immediate and long-term objectives for tourism

  3. Ensure the competitiveness of the national tourism industry within a regional and global scenario
• A tourism policy which identifies tourism as a key economic growth sector and guides its development over the long-term
• Destination organization/Destination marketing or management organization/Convention and visitors bureau/Tourism board

  Responsible for promoting a community as an attractive travel destination and enhancing its public image as a dynamic place to live and work
• Destination organizations


  • They strengthen the economic position and provide opportunity for people in their community
  • They drive direct economic impact through the visitor economy and fuel development across the entire economic spectrum by creating familiarity, attracting decision makers, sustaining air service and improving the quality of life in a place
  • Destination promotion is a public good for the benefit and well-being of all; an essential investment no community can afford to abate without causing detriment to the community's future economic and social well-being